February 28, 2014

I figured there was no better time of
year to review a genre that's out of my usual comfort zone, that
being erotica, than the month that plays host to Valentine's Day.
Well, Cupid's big day has come and gone, but that's no reason not to
shine a light on some more naughty fiction. I read a little bit of
everything, so when I saw this new anthology dedicated to--you
guessed it--book lovers, I figured I should check it out.

"A to Z" by Kristina Wright
started off the book really well, with a love affair between two
women who meet in a library, their affair intensifying with each book
they read together, going alphabetically through various authors from
A to Z. I thought it did a great job in encapsulating the whole theme
of the anthology, and setting the bar quite high for the rest of the
stories that would follow.

Stories about book lovers weren't
relegated strictly to libraries though, as the anthology sees
characters getting up to all kinds of hanky-panky in small Irish
villages--even the Playboy Mansion in Izabella St. James' "Playmates
at Play." Some stories wound up being like erotic homages to
famous authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Junot Diaz. As a matter of
fact, the anthology lends itself to references with countless winks
and nods to several authors.

That said, as varied in style as the
stories are, they vary in enjoyment as well, as some were just a
little too saturated in their inspiration. Almost like they were
trying to hard to emulate and pay tribute to, rather than focus on
the story itself.

All in all, a book of erotic fiction that
aims a wee bit higher than Twilight fan-fic, Book Lovers offers
quite the heated blend of stories that all show a deep and abiding
love of the written word. Call it smut if you like, but you can't say
it doesn't have heart.